SoCal Kick-Off

[KillerMonkey]

Saw last night they opened the back way to Big Bear from Lucerne Valley. Should be a mad house this weekend and just in time for the rain to roll through!

Seriously, this Friday rain going to fuck everything up just in time for the roads to reopen. Snow levels will be super high so basically a sheet of ice crust over all the snow that fell recently.

[406]

Ha, I thought those looked like snow blades but wasn't sure if it was camera angle.

[406]

Yeah, I'm bummed about the rain (and highway closures).

I did get some awesome turns in San Diego before work yesterday. Nice firm snow on skin in and fast spring snow on down. I had always avoided Cuyamaca because I had no interest in skiing down utility road, but fuel reduction and so much snow made for a great run. POV video link:
https://www.instagram.com/p/Cpi8Nlmv...d=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Linked open areas together from peak to truck. About 1700 vertical feet.

[bry]

Awesome man!

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[Ottime]

Someone should go tour Tauhitz rock. I skied that years ago and you have way more snow now. Look up my TR on Palm Springs. The 2nd part. Some legit lines back there.

[bry]

I like a bunch of spots a bit north of there and will be out there in a couple of weeks so will try and check it out if we get the chance. Thanks man I appreciate all the pics from abroad too.

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[bry]

https://kost1035.iheart.com/alternat...-san-jacinto-/

The tramway's insta is embedded in that link as well

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[Long duc dong]

Sunday afternoon I headed up to Baldy. I got on Thunder around 1:30. It was slushy and a blast, goopy in some spots but still awesome.

The groomers on Thunder were a bit bumpy, they had not been groomed yet, which was fine. After a groomer I did one lap around the Tube area. That was fun, a layer of slush that had been softened. It was better in the areas that were not as goopy, as it had really not been skied down.

After that I skied four laps in Andy's, which was great. With both Andy's and Herb's it usually makes sense to ski the areas which have been skied, as they are packed down slush. It's almost like you get gate ruts, if that makes sense. Some of the areas off of the 'track' are not settled sometimes, and they can be grabby, or deeper slush. I always like Andy's and Herb's when they get those tracks going and the slush is less grabby. I'm explaining it poorly, but you guys that ski those runs regularly probably know what I mean and can probably explain it better.

After Andy's I ventured into Herb's for a few laps. Herb's was awesome. Because it gets so much sun you often can't enter Herb's from the top, and the snowpack is often thin. In this season of seasons the snowpack is deep and you can ski it from the top. Like Andy's it gets better when the pack has been consolidated. After a lap I found the good slush track. It really is a treat when you can have that much fun in Herb's.

I skied Morgan's to get down. It's always great when you can ski Morgan's down to the lot. You can actually ski all the way right now. Morgan's was fun in some spots, but a bit goopy in others. Like Herb's and Andy's it made sense to ski the areas that had already been skied, the 'off-piste' (so to speak) areas tended to be a bit grabby and weird. But getting fun turns down to the lot is always great, and a few goopy turns are worth the price of admission.

The mountain handled the last storm very well all things considered. Lets hope the same happens for this one.

Here are a few laps. The Morgan's lap is the last one.

[bry]

Looks good, man it really warmed up

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[ThisAintCheckerz]

On 3/9 Colin Sander and I skied the N face of Mt. San Antonio.

We climbed up the S face, skied down the N face, climbed back out the ridge between Harwood and San Antonio, and skied the S face back down the the car.


A big day out.



Left the car at 5:15am


Climbing up the S face of Mt. San Antonio, mostly via crampon.


Looking down N face of San Antonio.






Downclimbing through the crux 3/4 of the way down.



Skiing below the crux


Closing out the apron. SE face of Baden Powell looking huge back there...

[406]

Wow, nice work.

[bry]

That is just great to see, awesome to skin up from/ski back to the car too with limited booting I presume. Glorious.

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[Long duc dong]

Nice work!!!

How was the snow?

[ThisAintCheckerz]

Nice work!!!

How was the snow?

The snow of course was extremely...variable!

Typical SoCal barely skinable frozen quasi corn on the way up. Blue ice on the ridge top. Barely edgeable hockey-rink the first 100 feet down before becoming fun wind-effected soft.

[bodywhomper]

Stoked to see people getting after it! I spent a lot of my youth in Orange County and San Diego and am stoked to see descents going down there! Thx all for sharing.

[Crouching Dallas]

Skied Baldy resort today! Chair 4 with as much coverage as I’ve ever seen it, despite the two rain events. Spring ridge was out of this world primo corn until they closed the chair at 12:30 to shift (presumably thin) resources to Thunder

Thunder good but not quite hero snow when we bailed at 2:30. Partly sunny conditions and the hard freeze didn’t allow for the same softening as chair 4’s southern exposures. Still a lot of fun though & and (whisper it) will only get better through the spring. Savor it, this all just rules

[406]

Girlyman yesterday was amazing, so fat:


Miscalculated that first turn

Second lap to The Dare:


Perfect corn in bowl too.

Crazy forecast has more snow, hopefully no rain at elevation.

[Long duc dong]

Skied Baldy resort today! Chair 4 with as much coverage as I’ve ever seen it, despite the two rain events. Spring ridge was out of this world primo corn until they closed the chair at 12:30 to shift (presumably thin) resources to Thunder

Thunder good but not quite hero snow when we bailed at 2:30. Partly sunny conditions and the hard freeze didn’t allow for the same softening as chair 4’s southern exposures. Still a lot of fun though & and (whisper it) will only get better through the spring. Savor it, this all just rules

We went on Friday afternoon, right as they closed chair 4. I think they can really only run one of the two on some of the week days.

Nice job 406!! It's funny, because in some of the videos one can see that point at which the snow either got better or you could tell the snow was good. With the socal pack there is always a 'feel it out' period each day. That's true at the resort, and obviously even more so in the backcountry.

Friday afternoon ended up being lots of fun. We started out with a few Skyline laps, which were nice. The snow had softened, but there were a few slightly crusty spots. The turns were still nice.

After that we did several laps in the Emile's area, right under the lift and to skier's left of the lift. It had softened really nicely in some spots, but other spots were still firm. Once you found the right line the subsequent laps got better.

I finished things off with a bunch of Andy's laps. Andy's was the best I found. It had softened into hero slush, and it is now more packed down and less grabby than it had been. It reminded me of just why I love the mountain when Andy's and Herb's are dialed. Andy's was great because the snow was so nice that you could just wiggle right in through the entrances. It was about as hero slush as I've seen at Baldy.

I wanted to ski down to the lot, but they had closed the lot runs by that point. I saw people skiing down earlier, so I'm not sure if they poached or if they just closed the lot runs later in the day.

Let's hope this storm gives a nice refresh. Things are already great, it would be nice to see them get even better. I wish every season was like this one!

Here are a few lines from Friday afternoon. The first one is Andy's, then some shots from Emile's and another few Andy's turns.

[bry]

Another good dump heading in, hopefully will be good to go Thu/Fri



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[ThisAintCheckerz]

Cant get this video to imbed, but here is a link to clip from last big storm day at Baldy a few weeks ago. I rode with Colin Sander, who shot and edited this. @colin_films

https://vimeo.com/808186041/84a652efec

[bry]

Got to the hill at 11 left at 3, skied thunder and south bowl mostly, going back tomorrow, it's great .

Chair 4 was still not yet spinning when I left, some tracks from folks skinning and booting.


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[theunknownskier]

Thanks for the report- looks good!

[406]

Yes, thanks for photos and updates.

I'm planning baldy ski area tomorrow. Anyone go up today? They get chair 4 going?

Edit:. Forecasted cool temps and high winds changed my plans.

[bry]

Headed home to get the dog out. Chair four softened up around 1p. Will be back tomorrow!

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[mr_pretzel]

Amazing pictures bry! Look’s special down there! Are wide skis the ticket in the hot pow?